Is dance your favorite way to express yourself? Looking for a college to go into dance professionally? If you are interested in majoring in Dance. Through our list, we are presenting you the Best Colleges for Dance Major in the U.S.
Students of dance learn to express ideas and emotions through dance forms such as ballet, modern, jazz, ethnic, and folk dance. Dance majors challenge their bodies and their minds in this demanding art form.
Dance is a very popular major and is offered at a wide variety of colleges and universities, top of which are listed below. In our directory, explore dance schools and choose the right one for your bright career. Good Luck!!!
Table of Contents
Columbia University
The Barnard College Department of Dance
Columbia contains the oldest college in the state of New York and is the fifth chartered institution of higher learning in the United States. The Barnard College Department of Dance offers an interdisciplinary program that integrates the study of dance within a liberal arts setting of intellectual and creative exploration. The Department of Dance is fully accredited and in good standing with the National Association of Schools of Dance. The Department of Dance offers technique courses for students of all levels of expertise while opening its other courses to majors and non-majors alike, who may also audition for its productions.
Founded In: 1754
Ranking: 1st
Tuition & Fees Approximately: 53,000 USD
Finance and Admission Office Contact: 212-854-2441
Website: http://bulletin.columbia.edu/columbia-college/departments-instruction/dance/
New York University
NYU Tisch School of the Arts
New York University is a private nonprofit research university. It’s Bachelor’s (BFA) and Dual Degree Master’s (MFA/MA) programs emphasize the techniques of ballet and contemporary dance, with equal emphasis on performance and choreography. The MFA in Dance is an innovative two-year program allowing graduate students to focus on specific areas of study: Choreography, Pedagogy, Dance & Technology and Performance (Second Avenue Dance Company).
Founded In: 1831
Ranking: 2nd
Tuition & Fees Approximately: 47,750 USD
Finance and Admission Office Contact: 212-998-1900
Website: http://tisch.nyu.edu/dance
Duke University
Duke holds a top-ten position in various national rankings. The Duke University Dance Program focuses on dance as an integral part of the human experience, and the moving body as a medium for rigorous intellectual creativity. Its aim is to engage students in the profound potential for dance as embodied knowledge in the service of society. Duke Dance offers majors, minors, and classes towards your degree. The program offers unique opportunities to encounter global dance traditions and movement experimentation for discovery, inquiry, and discourse. The new curriculum is designed to suit the interests of students with varied levels of experience in dance, encouraging them in multi- and inter-disciplinary engagements.
Founded In: 1838
Ranking: 3rd
Tuition & Fees Approximately: 49,241 USD
Finance and Admission Office Contact: 919.660.3354
Website: https://danceprogram.duke.edu/
University of California-Los Angeles
UCLA Department of World Arts and Culture
UCLA enrolls about 31,000 undergraduate and 13,000 graduate students and had 119,000 applicants including transfer applicants, the most applicants for any American university. The undergraduate program offers majors in Dance and in World Arts and Cultures. The M.F.A. in Dance offers opportunities to engage multiple movement practices as students work on pioneering research in the form of new choreography. The M.F.A. in Dance offers opportunities to engage multiple movement practices as students work on pioneering research in the form of new choreography.
Founded In: 1919
Ranking: 4th
Tuition & Fees Approximately: In-state 12,763 USD, Out-of-state 37,471 USD
Finance and Admission Office Contact: 310.825.3951
Website: https://wacd.ucla.edu/undergraduate-program
Northwestern University
The dance and liberal arts curriculum is designed to foster your intellectual, artistic and professional growth and prepare you to pursue career opportunities in performance, dance writing, education, choreography, dance therapy and administration. The foundations of their dance program are contemporary modern dance, which includes the vibrant Jump Rhythm Jazz style, along with ballet and tap. The dance and liberal arts curriculum is designed to foster your intellectual, artistic and professional growth and prepare you to pursue career opportunities in performance, dance writing, education, choreography, dance therapy and administration.
Founded In: 1851
Ranking: 5th
Tuition & Fees Approximately: 49,047 USD
Finance and Admission Office Contact: 847-491-7023
Website: https://communication.northwestern.edu/programs/major_dance
Washington University in St. Louis
Performing Arts Department
Washington University is made up of seven graduate and undergraduate schools that encompass a broad range of academic fields. The Dance Program emphasizes the study of dance as an independent and collaborative art and as a global phenomenon expressed in a wide variety of contemporary and traditional forms. Dance Program classes and performing opportunities are inclusive and open to all Washington University Students. One of the dance program’s greatest strengths is its faculty, distinguished by its accessibility and the broad range of experience and interests reflected in its work. Dance seminars and studio courses are limited in numbers to facilitate individual attention.
Founded In: 1853
Ranking: 6th
Tuition & Fees Approximately: 48,093 USD
Finance and Admission Office Contact: (314) 935-5858
Website: https://pad.artsci.wustl.edu/dance
Cornell University
College of Arts & Science
Cornell is one of three private land grant universities in the United States and the only one in New York. The Department of Performing and Media Arts offers four undergraduate minors: Performing and Media Arts, Dance, Film, and Theatre. Cornell’s theatre and dance faculty teach across the spectrum of movement. The more training in performance (acting, dance, and choreography), the better prepared you are to work in the demanding arts industry, which seeks out multi-talented artists.
Founded In: 1865
Ranking: 7th
Tuition & Fees Approximately: 49,116 USD
Finance and Admission Office Contact: +1(607) 255.4833
Website: http://as.cornell.edu/dance-minor
University of Southern California
USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance (KDC)
USC has historically educated a large number of the nation’s business leaders and professionals. The USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts to a select number of undergraduates who wish to pursue dance as their major. This four-year professional degree is housed in the state-of-the-art Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center. USC Kaufman also offers individual classes in technique, performance, choreography, production, theory, and history that are open to all students at USC.
Founded In: 1880
Ranking: 8th
Tuition & Fees Approximately: 50,210 USD
Finance and Admission Office Contact: +1(607) 255.4833
Website: https://kaufman.usc.edu/
University of California, Berkeley
Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies
The Dance and Performance Studies curriculum, we understand performance to be a mode of critical inquiry and research, a means of creative expression, and a vehicle for public engagement. The dance training and academic courses offered by our department are rigorous and geared toward the student who is interested in learning about dance and performance from multiple perspectives. As either a major or minor in Dance and Performance Studies, you will study with faculty known nationally and internationally for their scholarly research and creative work. The Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS) offers a minor in Dance and Performance Studies.
Founded In: 1868
Ranking: 9th
Tuition & Fees Approximately: In-state 13,431 USD, Out-of-state 38,139 USD
Finance and Admission Office Contact: 510-642-3175
Website: http://guide.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/degree-programs/dance-performance-studies/
University of Michigan
School of Music
The University of Michigan is a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Dance at the University of Michigan offers a winning combination: a world-class dance education within a leading research university. U-M dancers excel within an inclusive learning environment that encourages deep engagement through the transformative experiences of dancing and dance making. Academic courses both within and beyond our discipline inform the studio.
Founded In: 1817
Ranking: 10th
Tuition & Fees Approximately: In-state 13,856 USD, Out-of-state 43,476 USD
Finance and Admission Office Contact: 734.764.0593
Website: http://smtd.umich.edu/departments/dance/
